Boat Construction Update: Since the initial post, several people have asked for more information about the boat construction. The following image might help. The boat is made up of only four pieces of styrene. Use the appropriate sizes of styrene strips to cut each piece. Gently score lines into the top and sides of the canopy with a blade. When joining styrene, hold any two unpainted pieces together and brush a small amount of solvent along the seams. No need to add solvent between pieces before joining. Note: Solvent isn't a glue. It actually melts the styrene pieces together then evaporates away.

Painting the red stripes on the canopy was a bit tricky. I painted the entire top and sides red, making sure the red paint fulled each tiny little groove. Before the paint was dry, I wiped off each surface. The paint inside the grooves remained in place.

After the waterway paint was dry, I added a liquid product called Realistic Water, also from Woodland Scenics.

Several thin layers later, the waterway is nice and dry and very clear. Notice how the boat measures up to a penny?

More foliage.

Tiny palm trees at this scale can be difficult to find. Had to make my own out of straight pins and watercolor paper colored with a Prismacolor marker.

Painted the pins.

For a sturdy frame, I purchased a strip of a nice wood at the hardware store and cut it to fit.

Glued the frame in place.

And finally....... the finished product.

Up on the shelf it goes. Right next to my Ward Kimball Mars and Beyond homemade robot. Read about him in this earlier blog post.

Walt Disney World and Magic Kingdom opened almost exactly 41 years ago. Let's look at some more of the park as finishing touches are added. Then let's enjoy the new park with some photos taken right after opening. Another big thanks to Nomeus of www.flurbex.com and his grandfather who took these photos while working on the construction of Walt Disney World. These photos are exclusive to ImagineeringDisney.com.

Early early Jungle Cruise photos are so rare! Look how clean and beautiful it was.

Haunted Mansion.

Walt Disney World Railroad.

Cinderella Castle.

Empty moat. Wait, was this taken before the sea serpent topiary was installed as seen in Part 1? I think so.

Central Hub.

A look at Walt Disney World just after opening. Mickey leads the way.

Snow White and five, maybe six Dwarfs. Dopey might be hiding in there somewhere. The great original Market House in the background.

A 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea queue full of people. But there's a construction crane in the background. Could this have been a pre-opening test group? Maybe the crane was still used after opening.

Huge thanks to Nomeus and his family for these amazing and rare photos. Oh to have a time machine!